Which disease presents with high fever then defervescence followed by a maculopapular rash and is associated with HHV-6?

Which disease presents with high fever then defervescence followed by a maculopapular rash and is associated with HHV-6?

• A. Roseola
• B. Measles
• C. Rubella
• D. Varicella

Answer: (A)

Roseola is the illness characterized by a period of high fever followed by a sudden drop in fever (defervescence) and then the appearance of a diffuse maculopapular rash. This pattern, especially the fever ending before the rash and the association with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), is classic for roseola infantum. The fever typically lasts several days, and once it breaks, the rash appears—often starting on the trunk and spreading outward. The child often looks well after the fever resolves, which helps distinguish it from illnesses in which fever continues with the rash. Measles would usually have fever persisting with the rash appearing later, plus symptoms like cough, coryza, conjunctivitis, and sometimes Koplik spots. Rubella tends to cause a milder fever with tender postauricular or occipital lymphadenopathy and a rash that appears differently. Varicella shows vesicular lesions at different stages of development and is intensely pruritic, not a maculopapular rash that follows defervescence.

Roseola is the illness characterized by a period of high fever followed by a sudden drop in fever (defervescence) and then the appearance of a diffuse maculopapular rash. This pattern, especially the fever ending before the rash and the association with human herpesvirus 6 (HHV-6), is classic for roseola infantum. The fever typically lasts several days, and once it breaks, the rash appears—often starting on the trunk and spreading outward. The child often looks well after the fever resolves, which helps distinguish it from illnesses in which fever continues with the rash.

Measles would usually have fever persisting with the rash appearing later, plus symptoms like cough, coryza, conjunctivitis, and sometimes Koplik spots. Rubella tends to cause a milder fever with tender postauricular or occipital lymphadenopathy and a rash that appears differently. Varicella shows vesicular lesions at different stages of development and is intensely pruritic, not a maculopapular rash that follows defervescence.